ABSTRACT
Attempts by complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioners to achieve professional status are not new. What may be new, however, is the increasing number of different CAM practitioner groups seeking legitimate status as healthcare practitioners throughout the industrialised world. For example, in the province of Ontario, Canada, naturopathic practitioners, traditional Chinese medical practitioners, acupuncturists and homeopathic practitioners are all striving for professional status codified in state-sanctioned regulation (Wellman et al. 2001). In Britain, both osteopathic and chiropractic practitioners have recently been regulated, and the House of Lords Report recommends regulation for acupuncture and herbal medicine (Select Committee on Science and Technology 2000). And in the USA, chiropractors, naturopathic practitioners and acupuncturists are being regulated in an increasing number of states. The professionalisation of CAM practitioner groups appears to be a widespread phenomenon, yet relatively little is known about how these practitioner groups are making the transition from occupation to profession.
